Palletized carton



April 19, 1966 GARDNER 3,246,824

PALLETIZED CARTON Filed Feb. 10, 19 4 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 5.

INVENTOR. EUGENE G. GARDNER ATTORNEYS April 1966 E. G. GARDNER 3,246,824

PALLETIZED CARTON Filed Feb. 10, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 39 42 2a 38 Fl i iM/EM 1 65 I baa i n FIG. 2.-

INVENTOR. EUGENE G. GARDNER k Maw ATTORNEYS E. G. GARDNER PALLETIZED CARTON April 19, 1966 Filed Feb. 10, 1964 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. IO.

FIG. ll.

INVENTOR.

EUGENE G. GARDNER svy g/wl ATTORNEYS torn surface of the carton.

required to construct and of thestructure.

3,246,824 PALLETIZED CARTON Eugene George Gardner, Toledo, Ohio, assignor to Con- .tinental Aviation and Engineering Corporation, Detroit,

Micln, and Toledo, Qhio, a corporation of Virginia Filed Feb. 10, 1964, Ser. No. 343,785 6 Claims. (Cl. 229-6) This invention relates to shipping containers and more particularly has reference to a shipping carton having an integral floor and pallet structure.

Corrugated shipping cartons frequently do not possess sufficient strength or rigidity to permit the loaded carton to be moved about directly on the forks of a conventional fork-lift vehicle. In addition, the flat bottom surface of the cart-on ordinarily abuts the floor or other supporting surface, making it very ditficult for a fork-lift vehicle to remove the carton from its storage position.

To avoid these difficulties, shipping cartons are frequently palletized, that is, provided with spaced legs or similar projective means suitable for receiving the forks of a converitional fork-lift vehicle which are mounted on the bot- However, these palletized cartons have been found to be too readily damaged by the vehicle during handling.

It is therefore the primary object of the present invention to provide a palletized carton which may be conveniently handled by conventional fork-lift vehicles with a minimumof damage to the carton or its contents.

An additional disadvantage of the conventional palletized carton is that it is expensive to fabricate. The

.pallet structure must be constructed separately and subsequently attached to the shipping carton. This is uneconomical with regard to both the time and materials mount the pallet structure in place. 1

It is the object of the present invention to provide a palletized carton which may be constructed with a minimum of material and labor additional to that required to fabricate the carton structure itself.

As will be subsequently described in great detail, this is generally accomplished by constructing the carton of separate side wall and base structures. The base strucpallet being constructed substantially from a single scored corrugated cardboard blank. The floor and pallet are formed merely by folding the base blank along the scoring and either stapling or taping the flaps in position. Small supplementary pieces of cardboard or other material are provided at the corners of the base and at the midpoints of its longer sides for purposes of increasing the rigidity The present pall-etized carton has full-width legs with I reinforced ends, thus permitting substantial handling with a minimum of damage to the carton or its contents.

In addition, this palletized carton structure may be conveniently filled with a suitable rigid plastic foam when the carton is used for foamed-in-place packaging.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description of two preferred embodiments thereof. The

. of FIG. 2 partially folded into position,

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the blank used to form the corner supports,

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the blank used to form the side supports.

United States Patent O 3,246,824 Patented Apr. 19,

ICC,

of the blank of FIG. 7 partially folded into position.

FIG. 8 is a second fragmentary perspective view showing further folding of the blank shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment and showing the blank of FIGS. 7-8 completely folded into position.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the blank used to form the corner supports, and

FIG. 11 is a plan View of a second embodiment of the blank used to form the side' supports.

Referring to the drawings in detail, FIG. 1 shows the construction of a first preferred embodiment of the-invention wherein the corrugated cardboard carton generally comprises a base structure 10, a side wall structure 12, and a lid 14. I

The side wall structure 12 includes parallel long sides 16 and transverse parallel short sides 18 connected to the ends of the longer sides 16. This structure may be constructed in any convenient manner; as an example, the structure of FIG. 1 is fabricated of two blanks fastened together along the mid portion of the two longer sides 16.

The lid 14 is formed of a flat rectangular roof 20 and downwardly projecting flanges 22 and 24 respectively along the longer and shorter edges of the roof 20. These flanges are adapted to be stapled to the upper portion of the corresponding sides 16 and 18 of the side wall structure 12.

The base structure 10, according to a first embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1-3. A corrugated cardboard blank 26, from which the base structure 10 is formed, is shown in FIG. 2. The blank 26 is rectangular in shape and includes a series of short slits 28 extending perpendicularly to the length of the blank along the long edges thereof. Suitable scoring 30 is provided on each side of the blank.

By means of these slits and scoring, the blank 26 is divided into a series of flaps and panels which may be folded as shown in FIG. 3 toformthe base structure 10 in FIG. '1. The ends of the blank are thus divided into vertical side panels 32 and corner flaps 34 which fold to a position in which they extend perpendicularly to the side panels 32.

Proceeding from the panels 32 and flaps 34 towards the center of the blank 26, the blank is further divided into horizontal leg panels or sections 36, the lower surfaces of which normally abut the floor or surface upon which the finished carton is supported. Each end of the leg sections 36 is hingedly connected to end flaps 38.

The leg sections 36 are separated by scoring along their length from vertical panels 40 which extend parallel to the side panels 32 and which include flaps 42 at their ends. These panels 40 are in turn connected by means of reverse scoring, to horizontal floor panels 44 which have upwardly projecting flaps 46 at their ends.

Each floor panel 44 is connected along its length to a vertical panel 48' which extends parallel to panels 32 and 40. Transverse flaps 50 are disposed at the ends of the panels 48. The two panels 48 are joined to a single horizontal leg section 52, the lower face of which normally abuts the floor or surface upon which the finished carton is supported. This leg section 52 is provided with a flap 54 at each end.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the flaps 34, 38 and 42 at each of the four corners of the base structure 10 abut one another when the blank is completely folded into position for mounting to the remainder of the frame. Similarly, the flaps 50 and 54 abut each other at the midpoint of each of the long sides of the base structure 10. Although FIGS 3 and 1 indicate an order 3 for the folding of these flaps into position, it can be seen that any order .can be used provided that the flaps finally lie in abutment with each other so that they may be easily stapled together.

FIG. 4 shows a rectangular blank for a corner support member 56. This blank includes a slit 58 extending about halfway across the length of the blank from about the midpoint of one of the short edges. As shown in FIG. 1, each corner support 56 fits along the inside of the corner formed by the intersection of the vertical panel 32 and the flap 34. The lower edge of the support 56 abuts the leg 36 adjacent panel 32. The unslitted end of the support is stapled to the panel 32; the upper section of the slitted portion of the support is bent along the corner and is stapled to the adjacent flap 46. The lower section of the s'litted portion of the support is bent in return relation to the unslitted portion of the support-and is adapted to the panel 40. The support members "56 thus connect the adjacent'long and short vertical sides of the base structure and provide additional support therefor. Increased strength is obtained by bending the corner support memher in this manner.

FIG. shows a rectangular blank for a side support member 60. Slits 62 extend from the midpoint of each short edge towards the center of the blank. 'One of the support members 60 is mounted at the midpoint of each of the longer sides of the base structure as shown in FIG. 1. The upper portion of the blank is stapled to the adjacent flaps 46 while the center lower section between the slits 64 is fixed to the flaps 50 and 54. The two flaps created at the lower portion of the blank by the slits 62 and 64 are bent around and stapled to the vertical panels 48. This holds the vertical flaps 46 in position and adds strength to the base structure at these points. The result of this construction is to provide a base structure having supporting legs 66 extending the width of the carton and spaces there between, indicated at 68, adapted to receive the forks of a conventional fork-lift truck. The side wall structure 12, is mounted to the base structure 10 by stapling or taping its lower edges to the upper edges of the panels 32, and flaps 34 and 46, of the base structure.

FIGS. 6-9 show a second embodiment of the present invention wherein the height of the carton is increased. The blank from which the base structure is formed is shown in FIG. 6. This blank is generally rectangular in configuration and includes slits 79 extending perpendicularly to the length of the blank along the long edges thereof. Scoring 72 is provided on each side of the blank.

These slits and scoring divide the blank into a series of flaps and panels which may be folded as shown in FIGS. 7-9 to form a completed base structure similar to that of FIG. 1. The blank comprises elongated side panels 74 which form the vertical sides of the base structure along its shorter edges. A corner flap 76, provided at each end of each panel 74, includes a smaller flap 78 adapted to be folded into a position extending perpendicularly to the corner flap 76 and parallel to the side 74.

The side panels 74 are joined to a horizontal leg panel 80 which each include an end flap 82 at each end. Vertical panels 84 are connected along suitable scoring to the leg panels 80. The panels 84 include end flaps 86 at their ends, which are Shorter than the adjacent end flaps 82; the length of each flap 86 is equal to the width of the flaps 82.

Horizontal floor panels 88 and 90 are connected along reverse scoring to the panels 84. Flaps 92 and 94 connected at the ends of the panels 88 and 90 are folded upward into a vertical position. Floor panel 88 is connected to a vertical panel 96 which includes flaps 98 at each end scored across their width midway along their length to form pairs of hinged end sections 100 and 102.

The horizontal floor panel 90 is connected to a vertical panel 104 which has a shortened flap 106 at each end. The panels 96 and 104 are each connected along opposite edges of a horizontal leg panel 188 which abuts the surface upon which the base structure is supported. The leg panel 108 includes an end flap 110 at each end. The width of the leg panel 108 and the end flap 110 is equal to the length of the shortened flap 10 6.

As shown in FIGS. 7-9, the flaps 76, 82 and 86 abut one another at the corners of the base structure. The flap 78 is fixed to the panel 84. The flaps 100, 106 and 110 are similarly in abutment at the midpoints of the long sides of the base structure. The order in which these flaps are folded into place in FIGS. 79 is merely suggestive; any order will suffice provided the flaps finally are disposed in abutment with one another so that they may be easily stapled together.

FIG. 10 shows a blank for a corner support member 112. The latter member includes a horizontal arm 114, and a vertical leg 116. These support members 112 are mounted into each corner of the base structure in substantially the same fashion as those shown in FIG. 1. The vertical leg 116 is disposed along the side panel 74; the arm 114 is bent about the corner and is stapled to the corner flap 76 and the flap 92 or 94. The corner support member 112 thus reinforces the corners of the base structure. This corner member may be used in the same manner in FIG. 1.

FIG. 11 shows a blank for a side support member 118. The blank'comprises an upper horizontal strip and a downwardly projecting flange 122. The side support members 118 are mounted at the center of eachlong side of the base structure 18. The flange 122 abuts the flaps 100, 106, and 110 and is stapled thereto. The horizontal strip 120 is stapled to the adjacent flaps 92 and 94 and thereby supports them in their vertical position.

The two embodiments of the corner support members appearing in FIGS. 4 and 10 are interchangeable in the two embodiments of the base structure shown in FIGS. 1 and 6. Similarly, the side support members of FIGS. 5 and 11 may be used either in the base structure shown in FIG. 1 or that shown in FIG. 6.

Although the above embodiments of the present invention disclose completely enclosed cartons, it is to be understood that portions of the walls may be eliminated when necessary so as to form an open structure.

An important advantage of the cartons of the present invention is that a pallet structure is provided in each embodiment which is open to the interior of the carton. Because of this the cartons of the present invention are especially suitable for use in packaging systems in which the article to be packaged is positioned within the carton and a suitable plastic foam such as polyurethene or the like is poured around the article. In such apackage, the plastic foam will enter the pallets to provide sutficient strength therefore to support a heavy article or the like.

Although the above embodiments of the present invention disclose completely enclosed cartons, it is to be understood that portions of the walls may be eliminated when necessary so as to form an open structure.

It is apparent that although I have described several embodiments of the present invention, many changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention as expressed by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a container having side walls and a base structure along the lower edges of the side walls, an improved base structure comprising,

(a) horizontal spaced apart floor panels,

(b) central panels foldably attached to said floor panels along their adjacent edges so as to form a central leg projecting downwardly from the plane of said floor panels,

(c) panels foldably attached to the outer edges of each of the floor panels so as to form outer legs projecting downwardly from the plane of said floor panels,

(d) said last mentioned panels including a portion projecting above the plane of said floor panels for mounting to said side walls,

(e) end flaps foldably attached along opposite ends of said floor panels and projecting vertically therefrom for mounting to said side Walls, and

(f) flaps foldably attached at the ends of said central and outer legs and projecting therefrom so as to abut one another.

2. In a container having side walls and a base structure along the lower edges thereof, an improved base structure comprising,

(a) a pair of horizontal rectangular spaced apart floor panels,

(b) a first pair of vertical panels foldably attached to said floor panels along their adjacent edges,

(c) a horizontal leg panel foldably attached to the lower edges of said vertical panels and extending outwardly in the direction opposite to said floor panels,

(d) a pair of vertical side panels foldably attached to the outer edges of said leg panels and extending upwardly therefrom whereby said second vertical panels, side panels and horizontal leg panels form outer legs projecting downwardly from the plane of said floor panels,

(e) said side panels projecting above the plane of said fioor panels for mounting to said side walls,

(f) end flaps foldably attached along opposite ends of said floor panels and projecting upwardly therefrom for mounting to said side walls, and

6 (g) flaps foldably attached at the ends of said central and outer legs and projecting therefrom so as to abut one another and thereby close the ends of said legs.

3. The structure set forth in claim 1 including corner support members fixed to said end flaps and said upwardly projecting portion of said leg forming panels.

4. The structure set forth in claim 3 including side support members fixed to said end flaps and the fiaps on said central leg.

5. The structure set forth in claim 2 including corner support members fixed to said end flaps and said side panels.

6. The structure set forth in claim 5 and including side support members fixed to said end flaps and the flaps on said central leg.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,494,730 l/ 1950 Thursby 2296 X 2,685,398 8/1954 King.

2,896,798 7/1959 Celley 10852 X 2,928,578 3/1960 Parker 2296 3,006,590 10/1961 Hoag 10856 3,052,397 9/1962 Budd 20660 3,069,059 12/1962 Desbois 10855 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,258,979 3/1961 France.

GEORGE O. RALSTON, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A CONTAINER HAVING SIDE WALLS AND A BASE STRUCTURE ALONG THE LOWER EDGES OF THE SIDE WALLS, AN IMPROVED BASE STRUCTURE COMPRISING, (A) HORIZONTAL SPACED APART FLOOR PANELS, (B) CENTRAL PANELS FOLDABLY ATTACHED TO SAID FLOOR PANELS ALONG THEIR ADJACENT EDGES SO AS TO FORM A CENTRAL LEG PROJECTING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE PLANE OF SAID FLOOR PANELS, (C) PANELS FOLDABLY ATTACHED TO THE OUTER EDGES OF EACH OF THE FLOOR PANELS SO AS TO FORM OUTER LEGS PROJECTING DOWNWARDLY FROM THE PLANE OF SAID FLOOR PANELS, (D) SAID LAST MENTIONED PANELS INCLUDING A PORTION PROJECTING ABOVE THE PLANE OF SAID FLOOR PANELS FOR MOUNTING TO SAID SIDE WALLS, (E) END FLAPS FOLDABLY ATTACHED ALONG OPPOSITE ENDS OF SAID FLOOR PANELS AND PROJECTING VERTICALLY THEREFROM FOR MOUNTING TO SAID SIDE WALLS, AND (F) FLAPS FOLDABLY ATTACHED AT THE ENDS OF SAID CENTRAL AND OUTER LEGS AND PROJECTING THEREFROM SO AS TO ABUT ONE ANOTHER. 